Heart of the Swarm Beta Key Giveaway, No Holiday Patch Planned, 12/18/2012 Game Maintenance, Blue Posts, Curse Weekly Roundup

World First Heroic Elite 25 Protectors of the Endless
黎明之翼 (Wings of Aurora) was able to kill Protector Kaolan last and defeat Elite difficulty Protectors of the Endless. It appears that it was a close fight, as not many of them were alive for looting. Their best attempt before the nerf was 6% and progress was being made towards a kill.

Killing the bosses in the encounter in this order gives them access to the item level 516 loot. Congratulations to them!

Because this was in China, the loot becomes item level 524 once it is looted, and is upgradeable two more times.



Heroic Difficulty Boss Changes
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Two Heroic mode encounters in the Heart of Fear and the Terrace of Endless Spring are changing with the Raid reset this week:

  • Grand Empress Shek'zeer

  • Protectors of the Endless
    • The damage dealt by Touch of Sha no longer increases for each Protector that is defeated in the Heroic mode version of this encounter.

Patch 5.2 - Excess Valor Points to Justice Points
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
There are some changes planned for 5.2, for example, we would like to make Valor points convert to Justice as long as you’re Valor capped.

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Battleground Gear Disparity
Simply tier the BGs by ilvl.
It's not simple, unfortunately. It would a) require a retooling of how Battlegrounds assemble teams and b) even under ideal conditions, it would likely slow down queue times dramatically. As Ovenmitz demonstrates, there are a lot of players who are very opposed to that.

It's not that we aren't interested in making Battlegrounds a better experience, it's that we need to make sure that whichever steps we take actually meet that goal. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

World PvP Feedback
Would it not be possible to mark characters (say x levels under your own) in gray, and if a player over the limit of x tries to attack they are presented with the message "you cannot attack that target"? (Similarily, a player x lvs under gets the same message if trying to attack a target x lvs over).
It’s possible to do that, but it’s just something we decide not to. PvP realms have been here since day 1. Players know what the rules are before they join a PvP realm, the environment can be frustrating at times but it can also be a lot of fun and very challenging, that’s why players they go there.

I think the difference between PvP and PvE realms was felt much deeper in the old days of vanilla. That was when world PvP was probably at its peak, places like Tarren Mill, Southshore and Tanaris were truly a permanent battle zone. But one has to realize that the game evolves and while we enjoy world PvP, we also enjoy giving players more options.

So what happened? Well for starters, battlegrounds were introduced, so a big chunk of players that was constantly doing world PvP immediately switched to Battlegrounds, these were purposely made for PvP, it’s just natural that they become more appealing and take away some of the ganking going around in the world. Even if this wasn’t probably a complete switch, it certainly reduced the average amount of players out in the world looking for PvP. Is this a bad thing? That depends on whether you prefer world PvP or Battlegrounds.
Then we had some more game expansions and in addition to the classic Battlegrounds we got Arenas and even more Battlegrounds. We also introduced quality of life (controversial, we know!) queuing systems where we let people instantly teleport into dungeons/raids without risking their necks out there in the wilderness.

Without getting into much detail, the point is, as time went on, the amount of players out in the world got reduced, while the amount of players inside cities increased, this created 2 issues: one, it increased the likelihood of low level ganking to occur, since levelling players tend to quest and they have to be out there in the world to do so; and two, it decreased the chance of someone high level being around you to defend the members of his own faction.

So, yes, world PvP decreased significantly but we’re trying to turn that around with Mists of Pandaria.
My whole point is that, between vanilla and Mists, world PvP changed so much that making the choice between being on a PvE or PvP realm might have stopped being as hard to make as it used to be, but the fact remains that PvP realms were always meant to be about freedom, allowing factions to feel that they are truly at war, how can you feel that if you suddenly have restrictions on how/who/when you can attack?

Personally I welcome this change of direction with Mists but I look at it very carefully as this isn’t vanilla anymore and there a lot of variables that we need to pay close attention to if we want to make world PvP as entertaining as it once was. I’m talking about faction imbalance on certain realms (where possibly CRZ tech might be able to help out), flying mounts as easy ways to escape danger, and lack of the “I’ll get my revenge soon” feeling with CRZ possibly reducing the chance of the same players seeing each other again. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Icy Veins Christmas Contest
Icy Veins is holding a screenshot contest with some nice prizes, including a signed Collector's Edition of Mists of Pandaria, mounts, pets, AskMrRobot / Curse premium, and more!

All you have to do is take a nice screenshot of your character for the Feast of Winter Veil category, Best Scenery category, or Best Action Shot category. The contest runs until Dec 31st and submissions will be judged over the next few days.



Comics - Dark Legacy Comics #368
DLC #368 reflects on the many years of Warcraft.

This article was originally published in forum thread: World First Heroic Elite 25 Protectors, Heroic Boss Changes, Blue Posts, DLC Comic started by chaud View original post
Comments 127 Comments
  1. Luuth's Avatar
    I thought video games were not allowed to have skulls and bones in China? I guess that rule doesnt apply to add ons. Blizzard should have sold WotLK as an add on for TBC, that would have made things a lot easier.
  1. mmoca123b20796's Avatar
    Hail to the stacking masters
  1. Cirque's Avatar
    I'm sorry but any China kills, including this one, cannot be considered world first. They have had access to better gear for awhile now. I don't know why Blizzard made that retarded call, but they did, and that just removes China from any serious race.
  1. mmoc7ba4bd9e7f's Avatar
    I'm sorry but any China kills, including this one, cannot be considered world first. They have had access to better gear for awhile now. I don't know why Blizzard made that retarded call, but they did, and that just removes China from any serious race.
    Well remember boss damage and health got increased too, so i disagree with your reasoning, but i believe that they should be counted in their own race as they may face different problems than what the EU/US guilds face.
  1. Azrile's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by aoha View Post
    That's quite the argument. So 8% = 8iLvls?

    What worries me more on the other hand is the amount of disc priest / ranged dps stacking...
    The game should never be balanced around ONE extreme encounter.
  1. accessgranted's Avatar
    I can't wait to enter the contest.
  1. linghan0122's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Vasilisa View Post
    Grats for being first among asian guilds. Their ranking should remain sperate since they have 2x lockouts each week (aka 2x loot) and a bit increased difficulty in 25 man (8% health and dmg).
    no 2X lockouts nowadays... the only advantage on asian server is we got 8 lvl higher root in 25m raid... kinda net off the 8% health and dmg
  1. Shinzai's Avatar
    Dark Legacy telling it as it is.
  1. linghan0122's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Cirque View Post
    I'm sorry but any China kills, including this one, cannot be considered world first. They have had access to better gear for awhile now. I don't know why Blizzard made that retarded call, but they did, and that just removes China from any serious race.
    ...this is retard... when you dont know a thing... just shut up and keep quite.

    the reason why China been removed from serious race is... the stupid gvmt decided to hold on TBC for like... 2~3 years until you guys had finished ICC already... and this time... the MOP which was released just 7 days after EU/US/TW server is the first ever opportunity for the Chinese guild may have a chance to compete in the world first contest... and I am very glad that ... They really made it .. even though they are still 7 days behind...
  1. nitrizzle's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by aoha View Post
    That's quite the argument. So 8% = 8iLvls?

    What worries me more on the other hand is the amount of disc priest / ranged dps stacking...
    8ilvls >>>>>>>>>>> 8%

    Like by so much its not even funny. Look at the figures for each expac where gear had a set differentiation from the previous tier.
    Assume 25M BiS from start to end tier.
    WOTLK: 220 - 279ish (dps jumps from 8k to 17k). ilvl increase of 60 for a 100(+)% increase in damage.
    Cata: 373 - 411 (dps from 27k to 55k+) ilvl increase of 38 for a 100(+)% increase in damage.

    Gear stat inflation is ridiculous. Anyone who thinks the 8% increase is an obstacle needs to have their head checked.
  1. mmoca0452fab26's Avatar
    Lol. Everyone is whining about "Not world first! Asian first!", like any of them will compete in the run :|
  1. mmocaa84e3d5fa's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by adnre View Post
    pretty sure they didnt take that much spriests/boomkins for their dps, wtb healmeter

    e: found it http://worldoflogs.com/reports/akoq0...e/?s=125&e=588
    I dont understand, the WoL and kill shot does not show the same classes :S
  1. Freia's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by linghan0122 View Post
    ...this is retard... when you dont know a thing... just shut up and keep quite.

    the reason why China been removed from serious race is... the stupid gvmt decided to hold on TBC for like... 2~3 years until you guys had finished ICC already... and this time... the MOP which was released just 7 days after EU/US/TW server is the first ever opportunity for the Chinese guild may have a chance to compete in the world first contest... and I am very glad that ... They really made it .. even though they are still 7 days behind...

    No they didn't make it. For Asia its a different game entirely, anyone who thinks differently is dreaming. They have access to separate 25m and 10m lockouts, as well as LFR. They have more chances to complete set bonuses and get gear than NA/EU guilds. 8% increase does not account for that. If there are gear requirements for encounters, Asia will be able to make those requirements faster than NA/EU guilds.

    Another note, it was announced NA/EU would get the nerfs after raid reset which had not happened when the post was made. Doesn't that mean they got access to nerfed protectors before NA/EU?
  1. Tirosh's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by nitrizzle View Post
    8ilvls >>>>>>>>>>> 8%

    Like by so much its not even funny. Look at the figures for each expac where gear had a set differentiation from the previous tier.
    Assume 25M BiS from start to end tier.
    WOTLK: 220 - 279ish (dps jumps from 8k to 17k). ilvl increase of 60 for a 100(+)% increase in damage.
    Cata: 373 - 411 (dps from 27k to 55k+) ilvl increase of 38 for a 100(+)% increase in damage.

    Gear stat inflation is ridiculous. Anyone who thinks the 8% increase is an obstacle needs to have their head checked.
    idd, the chinese wow is now retarded, not to mention 2x clears.
  1. Kepi's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Pacer View Post
    I dont understand, the WoL and kill shot does not show the same classes :S
    it seems like that whole log is for 25 Normal unless WoL is bugged but that could be a reason your seeing different roster for kill shot and logs.
  1. Xenyatta's Avatar
    So the asians are the only ones who could compete in this progression race yet they got a "world" first? That's like the World Series of baseball being competed for only by American teams... but they're the best in the world?! o.O
  1. ohshift's Avatar
    Asians got the world first. Cry as much as you want. They killed it first, they got the world first. End of story.
  1. figotech's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by PetersenIII View Post
    You seem to have the common (read: ignorant) understanding that Ganking = PvP. It doesn't. It never has.
    And you seem to have the common (read: ignorant) understanding that World PvP = Fair. It's not. It never has been. Your carebear server is
    -----> that way
  1. Amsden's Avatar
    That comic strip was perfect! XD
  1. lockedout's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by chaud View Post
    Their armory only lists the same 5 versions that we have.
    Stick to computers bro. API isn't updated yet to show true variables.

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